Chapter 4: Temporary Residence in the Village

[Recite the URL three times silently. Do you remember it? If not, I will ask again in the next chapter. It would be best if you could share it on Facebook for me]

In the dilapidated mud and thatched house, there was a straw mat, a small square wooden table just moved from another house, and broken farm tools scattered in the corner. In short, Qin Hao could not find anything valuable in this thatched house.

There was only one oil lamp on the wooden table, and the dim candle flame told Qin Hao how miserable the life of the villagers here was.

The space in the house was indeed not large, and only a few people could enter the eleven or twelve square meters at a time.

Qin Hao sat in the main seat with three guards, while Chen Hu and Li Yi knelt opposite, and the rest of the Nord Royal Guards and most of the villagers waited quietly outside the house.

"I'm sorry to make you laugh, the farmhouse is simple and there is nothing good to entertain." Chen Hu knelt and begged for mercy.

"It's okay, I was born in a farmhouse since I was a child, and I'm used to it." Qin Hao replied, not wanting to put too much pressure on the two people who met for the first time.

"But may I ask you something?"

"Please tell me, sir."

"I think the land here is rich and fertile. Although there is no government protection, it will not fall to this state." Qin Hao looked at the two people in confusion.

After Chen Hu sighed, he said: "Your Excellency, you don't know that our village was not bad a year ago. Although we were not rich, every family could prepare some food for the next year and make some new clothes every autumn harvest.

The same is true for several nearby villages. They are all okay. They usually exchange some supplies with each other and live a good life.

But since last year, there has been a severe drought in eastern Fujian, and a large number of refugees have fled here by boat. Because there is no food, most of them go to the mountains to find food. After a while, they stay in the mountains and become bandits. In the past few months, they have been robbing us of food and people."

"That's right, this is the third time this year. The year before last was not like this." Li Yi interrupted.

Hearing the complaints of the two, Qin Hao was thoughtful.

The farmers who suffered were forced to go up the mountain and become bandits. It's not that they are all extremely vicious. Most of them are probably coerced.

Then as long as the leader is killed, the rest can be recruited.

And there are several villages at the foot of the mountain, with a large number of people. If they are brought under the command, they can accumulate some power.

However, the biggest obstacle at present is to solve the bandit problem here.

A stable territory is the most indispensable factor for the development of power.

[Side Quest - Eliminate the Bandits]

[In the endless mountains, there are large and small bandits everywhere. Eliminate them and recruit them, and return peace to this place]

[Attachment 1: Not everyone is willing to be a bandit. There are also women and children among them. Please distinguish and appease them. 1% of the surrendered people are rewarded as troops for the task.

[Attachment 2 Of course, there are also many evil bandits who have committed many crimes for many years. They will be beheaded for public display. 10% of the number of people eliminated is the mission reward]

[Mission reward - Shuntian Death Soldier (unknown number)]

"Okay, okay"

Just when I was about to go to bed, someone brought me a pillow. Since the reward is so generous, there is no reason not to stay.

Let's start my career from now on!

Qin Hao was full of joy.

"My lords, the food is ready." The cook's voice came from outside the house.

Although he had just arrived, Qin Hao had arranged 7 Nordic royal guards and a Liaodong cavalry outside the house to secretly control the situation. Without Qin Hao's order, no one was allowed to enter without permission, and those who violated the order would be killed without mercy.

It's better to be careful when you are unfamiliar with the place!

"Bring it in." Qin Hao ordered.

The young cook walked into the house carefully with a wooden tray and gently placed a few bowls of rice and a few dishes on the square table.

Qin Hao knew this young cook. She was the girl who was almost raped by the bandits just now.

She bowed her head and held the wooden bowl to Qin Hao, and whispered: "A Xiu thanks you for saving my life."

Qin Hao took it and smiled at her.

A Xiu secretly glanced at Qin Hao and slowly retreated.

After seeing A Xiu come out, some villagers hurriedly pulled her aside and squeezed over (mostly young women), asking in unison: "How is it?"

A Xiu was shy and answered softly: "It's beautiful, more beautiful than the official lady I saw before."

"I just saw him. He must be the young master of the official family. Look at his clothes. They are colorful and much more beautiful than the white cotton we spin. It looks luxurious at first glance."

"The clothes are beautiful, and the person is also beautiful. However, his hair is a little shorter, which is different from the men here."

The young women discussed one by one, not for any purpose, but they were a little curious about Qin Hao who saved the village and everyone.

Qin Hao couldn't hear their discussion in the house, but discussed future plans with Chen Hu and Li Yi.

Confucius once said: "I never tire of fine food, and I never tire of fine meat."

The weeds that were eaten as side dishes were too coarse to chew, and there were a few more sands in the coarse rice, which hurt my teeth.

Qin Hao could tell from the food that they were not living well, and he didn't care much about the taste of the food, and he still ate it very happily.

"I want to stay here, I don't know," Qin Hao mentioned casually, while his eyes swept across the cheeks of the two.

Chen Hu was silent after hearing this.

"Really?"

On the other hand, the young Li Yi was so excited when he heard Qin Hao's words that he dropped his bowl on the ground. Fortunately, the bowl was made of wood, so it couldn't be broken.

Chen Hu glared at Li Yi next to him, then slowly put down the wooden bowl, looked at Qin Hao and said slowly: "Sir, do you know that we have so many bandits that we have to stay here?"

"Yes, I have made up my mind."

Qin Hao put down the empty bowl, straightened his posture, and said seriously, "Since you are going out to start a career, it is not a career. If you really go to Ming Dynasty, you have to take care of the official affairs. It is better to stay here for the convenience."

"Thank you for your willingness to save the people of my village from fire and water." Chen Hu and Li Yi knelt down together and chanted in unison.

Chen Hu had already had this intention. Nowadays, there are many bandits and the village does not have enough force to maintain it. It would be best to let a man with strong force like Qin Hao stay.

Qin Hao originally thought that he would have to spend a lot of words, but he didn't want to just say a few words and the matter was settled.

From this moment on, he was the nominal head of the village.

"How many villages like ours are there around us?" Since he agreed to stay, Qin Hao was unambiguous and asked the two for surrounding information.

Chen Hu thought for a moment and said: "For a small village with 2 or 30 households, there should be 7 around it, but I heard some time ago that some villages were massacred by bandits. People were either killed or dragged to the mountains. , it’s hard to say now.

There are three large villages nearby, two are Han Chinese and one is a native of the mountains, each with 180 households. "

"Does everyone here come down from the mountains to farm?" Qin Hao asked.

He remembered that these Tibetan people were the Gaoshan people of later generations, the native ethnic groups in Taiwan. In his memory, they seemed to have always lived in the mountains and made a living by gathering and hunting.

"Yes, sir. We have been here for many years. During this time, we have seen many Shanfan people and they are very friendly to us.

When the farming season is busy, they all come down the mountain to harvest with us. Seeing how much food we have planted, they start to think about farming as we go back and forth, so they also start to form groups and start farming. Many of the women are married to nearby large villages. "

Qin Hao nodded and said, "That's right."

The primitive civilization of slash-and-burn farming was attracted by the advanced farming civilization and began to transform. It was simply a peaceful way of transition.

In more than 200 years, the originally advanced agricultural civilization will eventually be defeated by the more advanced industrial civilization, and there will be no peaceful transformation at that time.

The bloody violence of commercial capital will drag the entire world into an endless stage of preying on the weak.

But it's still too early for the people in the village.

"Chen Hu, how much food do you usually have to pay to the bandits?" Qin Hao asked with concern.

"The bandits come twice a year, and each time they have to hand over half of their food income."

Qin Hao muttered in his heart: "The exploitation is too much."

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's land tax was roughly one in ten. The commodity transaction tax rate is generally 1 in 30.

Transactions of books, farm tools, vegetables, etc. are tax-free.

The feudal dynasty's policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business seriously hindered the development of the entire nation and led to the collapse of the later dynasty.

"Chen Hu, if I ask you to recruit people from other villages to farm here, and I will provide protection, and pay 1 out of 10 agricultural taxes every year, how much can you recruit?" Qin Hao looked at Chen Hu and asked.

Today's villages are scattered across the plains, making them difficult to manage. Qin Hao's idea is to gather them together, which can effectively resist the bandits on the one hand, and also facilitate subsequent tax collection on the other.

The tax rate should be set high at the beginning, and after accumulating strength, the tax rate can be gradually reduced through merit.

"Small villages should be able to come, but it's hard to say for big villages. They don't run away if they see a rabbit, and they have a certain strength. Bandits generally don't take the initiative to provoke them, but just send people to collect food on time."

"What if I wipe out the bandits on the mountain?"

"If your Excellency can do it, they will definitely come." Chen Hu said firmly, "With Your Excellency's protection, low tax rates, and reduced food payments, there is no reason why they should not come."

"Okay. Then first wipe out the bandits on the mountain, establish your authority, and then call them here one by one."

After all, force is the best means of persuasion in troubled times.

"I wonder which bandit your Excellency wants to destroy?"

Li Yi on the side watched Qin Hao and Chen Hu communicating about the village. He didn't understand and had to sit there. Now he finally asked what he knew and asked urgently.

"Brother Li Yi, tell me about the bandits on the mountain."

"Nuo" Li Yi knelt down on one knee and shouted with his fists clasped.

This move made Qin Hao a little surprised, laughed, and said, "Who did you learn this from?"

Li Yi scratched his head and smiled: "I'm not afraid of adults' jokes, that's what bandits do.

When we first came here, many of our neighbors had no food to eat and became bandits.

There are a few who are about the same age as me and have played well since childhood. Whenever they come down the mountain for a mission, they will talk to me about things on the mountain.

He didn't harm anyone, and when the time came to wipe out the bandits, he asked for their forgiveness. "

"It's a simple matter. If they really didn't harm anyone, we would let them go." Qin Hao tactfully agreed without refusing.

Later, Li Yi told Qin Hao about the current situation on the mountain.

There was originally a group of big bandits on the mountain here. On the one hand, they controlled the large and small bandits on the mountain, and on the other hand, they collected grain from the villages below the mountain. They were not easy to harm people. The two had been getting along well over the years.

But who would have expected that half a year ago, the bandit leader died unexpectedly when he went out to collect grain.

Suddenly, the mountain was in chaos. The second leader and the son of the eldest leader fought for power. The small forces under them were also restless and occupied the mountain tops everywhere.

In addition, a large number of refugees came, and the situation became more confusing in an instant. Both the mountain and the mountain suffered.

After a brief analysis, Qin Hao said to the two: "This is easy. Just eliminate the forces of the second leader and the son of the eldest leader, and then slowly deal with the others. The mountain bandits will basically be pacified."

There is an old saying: hit the snake at its seven inches, and the gun hits the bird that sticks out.

As long as these two largest bandits are eliminated, the other small bandits will also collapse, and it will be easy to eliminate them.

"How many people are there in these two teams?"

"Not many, not many. Don't look at the large number of people going up the mountain. In fact, most of them are like us. Some are old and young. Although there are many young and strong people, most of them are forced to stay on the mountain to farm and are not allowed to come down. The two groups that really hold knives are about 100 people." Li Yi counted while touching his fingers.

100 people.

Qin Hao silently opened his own arms system panel to check.

[Arms Panel]

[Nord Royal Guards X10]

[Aserai Elite Archers X5]

[Liaodong Iron Cavalry X1]

After careful calculation, he only has about 16 people now, and he also needs to consider the initiative to attack. The mountain road is rugged, and the Liaodong Iron Cavalry will probably have to stay in the village.

Bandits 100, our side 15.

Despite the disparity in numbers, Qin Hao is not afraid at all. Back in the game, he dared to charge at an enemy 10 times his number with 10 intermediate arms, and successfully defeated the enemy.

What's more, now he has 16 fully armed advanced soldiers. The equipment of the bandits is probably not as good as in the game, not to mention well-trained.

"In that case, let's take the initiative to attack." Qin Hao slapped the table and decided.

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